Private mailing-card.



W. J. WOOLDRIDGE.

PRIVATE MAILING CARD.

APIYLIOATION FILED FEB. 16, 1906.,

961,829, Patented June 21, 1910. F73.

UNETE WILLIAM J. WQOLDBIDGE, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK.

rmva'rn MAILING-cam).

7 srecificaflon of Letters Patent Patented June 21, 1910. Application filed'February 16, 1906. Serial No. 801,328. I

ing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady,

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Private Mailing-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates particularly to an improvement in post cards or private mailing cards, and to means whereby the message-t0 be carried by the card may be imprinted on it in a reversed osition, or so that it reads from right to 12ft. This unnatural arrangement of the letters makes the card practically illegible exce t when held before a-mirror to restore the etters to their proper positions and to make the words read from left to right. Not only does such a card aflord amusement because of the difficu-lty encountered by the uninitiated in deciphering the message but it mayalso be used to advantage in communicatinginformation of a private nature without disclosing the nature of that information to posta men or others through whose hands the card may pass. v

To secure the above recited effect I rovide the mailin card with a detachable eaf or flap on whic the inessa e is first written practically all remainwhere-it is deposited. y the pen, for under such conditions the two sur aces will have the same absorbing ower and the one which first receives the ink will have a much longer time in which to act, particularly if the message is long.

Furthermore the imperfect image obtainable by such an arrangement is quite comparable to the irregular markingsordinarily ound on the face of a blo pad and consequently would be quite unsulted for transmitting information according to ap licants invention. To overcome this d ifliculty I make the post card and its detachable leaf orflap of such material that the card has a bi h ink absorbing power while the flap has ttle or no tpower to take the ink into its pores, with e result that ink deposited on the-leaf by the pen of the writer remains liquid on or near the surface of the leaf until absorbed by the air, and I find that this interval is long enough to permit the sender to fill an entire leaf withwriting before any appreciable quantity of the ink dries, the result being a shar ,-clear cut transfer of all the letters when t e. leaf is folded over against the body of the post card to print the reversed image.

The details of my invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of the front of a post card having a flap or leaf attached to the left hand ed e and folded around against the back of the card; Fig. 2 is an e ge view of the same; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the back of the card, with the leaf open; Fig. 4 shows a'modification in which the detachable leaf is secured to the front of the card; Fig; 5 shows my invention applied to illustrated post cards; and Fig. fishows a modified connection between the card and its detachable leaf.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, the post card 1 maybe of the size and shape of the Government post cards and is of such composition that it-will readily absorb or take up ink. To the front of this card is attached. a flexible leaf 2 which may be bent around against the back of the card as shown in Fig. 2. I prefer to cement or otherwise attach it to the card only along the edge 3, us' a cement which although securely holding the leaf 2 in place while being handled at the stationers will neverthele without materially defacing the card or tearing the leaf. The detachable leaf or flap 2 may consist of any ,flexib'le material having such a surface that it will not readily absorb ink but will keep the ink in a liquid condition on its surface. Pa er with an extra hard surface will fulfil t ese requirements and give a good transfer but I prefer to use a prepared paper or cloth having a filling of wax or other moisture resistm medium and having a surface whichwifi readily take ink from a pen and yet will not absorb the ink to an appreciable extent but willkeep'it on the su ace and yield a sharp reverse image when the leaf is folded over against the card.

After the reverse image has been im- 9'0 permit detachment of the leaf from the card by makingthe leaf of cloth such as is some- "times used by draftsmen for tracing urposes, or by using full rag paper stoc The modification illustrated in Fig. 4 shows a detachable leaf 4 secured to the front of the card 5 at the right hand edge so that when the cards are on exhibition at the stationers the leaf is in position before the front or address side of'the card and leaves the back of the card exposed, this feature being of particular importance when the back bears a printed picture-such as that shown in Fig. 5. The message may be written on the leaf when in the osition shown in Fig. 4 after which the eaf is folded against the back of the card as shown in dotted lines, thus effecting a transfer of the message to the card. The leaf may then be torn away and the card mailed.

Fig. 5 shows my invention applied to an illustrated post card 6, the detachable leaf 7 being of such size that it covers only that part of the card which is not illustrated. The illustration may be printed on the card by photographic or other process and while the picture or other printing ma be arranged in the normal way to read rom left to right I prefer print them reversed as myhand this 27th day of January shown in Fig. 5, so that when the written message is completed the .whole card will ap ear normal if held before a mirror.

t ,will be. understood that the landscape shown in Fig. 5 is used only by way of illustration and'that if desired this part of the leaf, though it should be understood that the method of attachment shown in Figs. 1 and 4 are also applicable to the card and leaf shown in Fig. 5.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is: 1. The combination with a mailingcard having a surface of high ink absorbing power, of a leaf secured thereto having a surface of low ink absorbing power.

2. The combination with a mailing card,

of a flexible leaf detachably secured to said card and consisting of wax-filled cloth.

3. The combination with a mailing card, of a flexible leafsecured to said card and consisting of tough material havin a surface substantially non-absorbent said'leaf being shorter than said card and arranged to fold against a part thereof.

In witnesswhereof, I have hereunto set WILLIAM J. WOOLDRIDGE. Witnesses:

B. L. Hum, M. C. OLSON.

or ink, 

